Gifts
by Evia Wingjade
Summary: What did the Pevensies think of their first gifts in Narnia and how did they impact each person? This is my first Narnia FanFic, so please be kind if you choose to review and give me tips, which I would appreciate . Rated K because Ed gets injured.
1. Lucy

Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or anything associated with it. They belong to CS Lewis, Disney, and Walden Media

Book and Movieverse

Just a set of thoughts, mostly set in the Movieverse. I started wondering what the Pevensies were thinking when they received their gifts from Father Christmas. And then I wondered what Edmund must have thought when he was given his battle gear, and who gave it to him. So of course I had to write it.

_Gifts_

Lucy

Lucy was just beginning to doubt her belief in the unseen—for how could Fairies and Father Christmas and Angels exist when Daddy had been taken away, and then Mommy had _sent_ them away—when she stumbled into Narnia. Years later, when she looked back on it, she knew that Narnia was the salvation of her deepest self. Just like the day Father Christmas gave her the Cordial of fire-flower juice, and she knew that Someone understood her ever present desire to help and heal. The dagger confused her momentarily, until she remembered that the Narnians expected Peter to be a king. That must mean that he would sometimes have to do things without her in the future. Of course that meant she would have to learn to protect herself. She tried to stand up tall, and told Father Christmas that she could Probably be brave enough to use it.

Lucy wondered fretfully if she would need to use her cordial soon as she sat at Aslan's camp, watching the Narnians make weapons and practice fighting. Already a centaur had come to teach Peter how to use his sword. She put unpleasant thoughts from her mind and followed Su to the little river.

The first time she used her Cordial, it had been for Edmund. Lucy's hands still shook sometimes, when she remembered that day. The brother she had been afraid she had lost was bleeding from a hole in his stomach, and she felt the same sweeping panic that had descended when she watched him walk into Jadis' castle. And even before that, the fear she felt first time Edmund had come home from boarding school and knocked her down on purpose. She felt as though part of her heart was being ripped out. But then Edmund opened his eyes, and Lucy knew she had been right to trust in the gift from Father Christmas. When she looked up and saw Aslan waiting, a look of summoning on his face, Lucy jumped to her feet and put her gift to further use. It was then that she realized that if the Narnians need her to help them, she could do that.


	2. Susan

Susan

Susan had to swallow her protest as Father Christmas handed her a bow and a quiver of arrows. She felt somewhat better when he said they would not easily miss, but she was still unsure that she could use a weapon. She wasn't sure she Wanted to use a weapon. The horn though, was a thing of such beauty that it stole her breath for a moment; and such a token of her own thoughts! She was not sure if she would cry, so relieved was she to hear that she was not expected to fight in a battle any time soon. If someone had to fight, Susan much preferred that it not be her.

When the wolf surprised them as she and Lucy left the stream, Susan knew she needed her horn, and help. She was shocked to find that she wished for her bow and arrows as she propelled her little sister up a tree and followed as quickly as she was able. She was finding that she did Not fancy it when someone threatened her family; she had never had to deal with the possibility of physical violence before. Peter had always kept her out of it when bigger boys picked on him or Edmund, and the girls who occasionally pestered her kept their attacks to cruel words.

Susan was not surprised when Peter wanted to send her and her younger sibling's home, nor really that he wanted to stay and help the Narnians. She knew after his fight with the wolf that he was truly as Aslan had called him; his heart was that of a warrior, a knight. And, she had begun to suspect, the heart of a king. She expected Lucy's protest, though not Edmund's. But what surprised her most was her own reaction. Her face curved into a smile as she told Peter she was going to practice with her bow and arrows. She felt she owed the Narnians that brought her younger brother back to her, but the sense of responsibility she felt for the well-being of the strange people of this land was more like the feelings she held for her family. Susan began to believe that she possessed a queen's heart, as her little sister clearly did.


	3. Peter

Disclaimer: Still not mine

_The italics are Peter's internal dialogue._

Peter

When Father Christmas handed him a sword and a shield, Peter was at least as surprised as his sisters, but he walked forward and took them. To his shock, they did not feel wrong in his hands. It was as though they were being returned, rather than given. When he made to draw the sword, Peter slid the shield on his arm to free his hand without thinking. After they bid Father Christmas farewell, Mr. Beaver made to help him with the sword-belt and scabbard, but again, Peter was surprised to find that he could see quite easily how it worked. As they walked through the snow, he puzzled over his sudden and strange understanding of weapons.

_Maybe not so sudden_, the part of his mind that already believed the prophecy interjected. _I've always loved the stories of King Arthur, and when Ed and I were little we used to play at sword-fighting with sticks…_ His gut clenched when he thought of his brother. _How am I going to help Ed? Can I really fight a war to get my brother back?_

_Don't be ridiculous_, the skeptical part of his mind said, _you're a kid! You know don't know anything about swords and shields and wars._

And as he panicked on the frozen river, reaching for the sword he'd recently been given to try his best to defend his sister and new friends against the White Witch's wolves, Peter was in a quandary. Susan yelled for him to be sensible, but what was even remotely sensible about this situation? The Beaver yelled for him to kill the wolf while he had the chance, but the river made this decision for him. Lucy shrieked and, as ever, Peter's attention was drawn to her distress. His instantaneous decision to use the sword as an anchor was proof enough for his troubled mind when he thought about those heated moments later. This weapon was not only destructive; he had used to save his sisters and himself.

If that was what a sword was for—to protect the people he loved—then maybe he Could be the warrior the Narnians expected him to be.

*****

Note: I chose to change the point of view of Peter's thoughts because I wanted to associate the optimistic side of his personality with his concept of "I," while the more skeptical part was his mind's rational assessment of his hopefulness.


	4. Edmund

Edmund

When he was brought into Aslan's camp and taken before the great lion, Edmund was so bone weary and ashamed that he could not stand. He fell to his knees before the glory he faced and was for a moment more afraid of Him than even the Witch. But then Aslan had let out a slow breath, enveloping him is a strong and comforting smell, and Edmund found that he was no longer afraid. He was still ashamed, though, and the Lion sighed.

"Oh Son of Adam, what am I to do with you?"

"I don't know," Edmund replied quietly, now afraid not of retribution, but of the disappointment radiating from the being before him; it was worse than when he picked a fight with Peter, and Father sat him down to _talk_. That thought startled him, for that was exactly how the great Lion looked at him.

"Yes Edmund. I look at you as my child, for I love you as though you were so."

"I don't deserve it. I've done horrible things, Aslan."

"I know what you have done, my Son. Will you repent of your sins?"

"How, Aslan? How can I make up for betraying my family? For betraying you?"

"You cannot," the Lion replied, and Edmunds' face showed agony. "But I did not say you should make up for it. I asked if you would repent. Will you learn from your mistakes and never repeat them? Will you ask forgiveness of those you have hurt?"

"Oh! Oh yes, yes Aslan. I promise I will never betray my siblings' trust again—or yours. And I really am sorrier than anyone could know. Will you forgive me?"

"I do know, my son, and I forgive you; all is well between us. Now get to your feet, and we will talk."

After talking with Aslan, and then his siblings, Edmund was taken to some much needed rest. When it was decided that they would all stay to help the Narnians, Peter took him to see the centaur Orieus, who had carried Edmund to Aslan's camp. Edmund bowed his head, shame filling him again, as Peter asked if Orieus could help him find a sword and shield for his brother. The centaur gave Edmund an appraising look, and handed them each wooden swords, telling them to try a few passes with the practice weapons first, to see how Edmund would adapt to a sword. Peter was more controlled than Edmund remembered from their childhood duals with sticks, but Edmund was still faster. After a few minutes, the centaur called a halt, and he appeared pleased. Orieus then led them to a swordsmith and helped Edmund find a sword of the right size and weight; the shield came from the supply tent. As Edmund practiced with his brother, he began to realize that Peter did not hate him. How this was so, he was not sure, but it was clear. Peter and the girls were glad to have him with them. And his own relief to be among his siblings again was so profound that he felt tears begin to well up in gratitude every time his mind wandered to his family.

After the battle, Edmund was knighted by Aslan, who cited his cunning in depriving the Witch of her wand and his valor in refusing to leave his brother on the battlefield. Aslan called him according to the Noble Order of the Table, and it was as he heard the cheering of his family and comrades-in-arms that Edmund realized that he could, just possibly, live up to the pride in him that was on Aslan's face.


End file.
